Teardrops On My Guitar
by gothicbutterfly95
Summary: Maria's thoughts as she leaves for the Abbey during the party, as well as the events that follow. AU. Named after the Taylor Swift song, but not based on it.
1. Chapter 1

Maria's mind was whirling a million miles an hour, yet she continued her packing in the same, slow motions that were unlike anything she ever did._ In love with him? _The words kept repeating over and over in her brain. How could that possibly be true? As she had said to the Baroness, she'd never done a thing to make the Captain think of her as anything other than his children's governess. Moreover, he was virtually engaged to the Baroness. Frau Schmidt had told her they were planning to marry before the summer ended. So how on Earth could he be falling in love with her? Maria had no experience with the world of love, but she wasn't stupid. She knew you couldn't marry someone when you were in love with someone else.

That only made her all the more sure she needed to leave. As much as it broke her heart leaving the villa, a place she had come to call home, and the seven beautiful children she had come to care for as her own, if she left, the Captain would have no other alternative than to pursue his engagement to the Baroness. And as the Baroness had said he would get over her; see their relationship for what it truly was: an insignificant fling and nothing more.

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><p>But even so, she couldn't disappear just like that. She just couldn't. She wouldn't do that to the children. If she was leaving them, and she knew she had to, she was not going to leave them with nothing.<p>

But she also knew she couldn't tell them what had caused her to change her mind and leave suddenly. She knew if she mentioned the Baroness, the relationship between her and the Captain would be affected, and Maria didn't want that. She also couldn't say anything about these emotions she was feeling. She knew she just had to keep it simple.

So once all her bags were packed, Maria tore a blank page out of the back of her Bible and grabbed a pen out of the drawer. Fighting to keep the tears from her eyes she scribbled out a note saying that she missed her life at the Abbey too much and she could not bear to be away from it any longer. It wasn't exactly the truth; she knew that, but right now it seemed true enough to matter. After everything that had had happened tonight, Maria was starting to believe that the Abbey really was the only place in the world she could trust. At the villa she was in over her head. At the Abbey she'd be away from it; she'd be safe.

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><p>No one was in the foyer when Maria exited her bedroom and came down the stairs. Emotions she had no experience with were whirling all through her mind and body and she knew she could not stay in the von Trapp villa for one second more than was necessary. So she wasted no time in placing the note on the side table and disappearing outside, closing the door behind her.<p>

It was dark outside and the sky looked ominous. Maria had no idea what the time was, but she hoped there would be another bus that evening. It had been a full on, emotional day for her and she was in no mood to walk all the way back to the Abbey.

As she walked down the street, so unlike how she had when she had first arrived at the von Trapp villa she began humming a song that her parents used to sing to her when she was a child. She'd never sung it to the von Trapp children, or anyone else for that matter. It was her most private song.

"...I can be whatever I want to be," she sung softly and sadly. But what exactly did she want to be? For years now she had been positive that all she had ever wanted was to be a nun; but she wasn't so sure anymore.

When she reached the second verse of the song; the verse about love her thoughts drifted back to earlier in the evening, when she had danced with the Captain. Towards the end of the dance, when their bodies were closer and they moved more slowly, a desire unknown to Maria had taken hold of her. So she had done the only thing she could think of, and had ended the dance, pretending she didn't remember any more. Was this a sign that what she was feeling really was love?

She arrived at the bus-stop a few minutes later and gently set down her bag and guitar case on the bench next to her. Unbuckling the case's clips, she removed the guitar and held it tight against her body, the way Marta and Gretl would their dolls.

Resting it on her lap she gently strummed the strings, her voice joining in a second later, singing the rest of the strange song she'd known forever, that like so many others, never failed to comfort her. But tonight it seemed to be doing more than simply comforting her. It was calling out to her very soul; matching the strange new feelings running through her.

Maria didn't know how long she had been lost in the song's melody when a thunderclap that rolled overhead brought her back to reality. Rain was starting to fall now and Maria was grateful for the bus shelter over her head and the absence of wind. It had been a very stressful day and the last thing she wanted was to be wet.

Another thunderclap sounded and within a couple of seconds the rain had gotten heavier. Maria's thoughts immediately flew to the children. Who was to say they wouldn't all jump out of bed and race off to her bedroom like they had done on her first night, only to discover their governess had left them.

Maria wasn't sure when the bus was coming, if there was one coming at all. But despite what she had thought when the rain had started, when the wind changed and began blowing the rain into the bus shelter, she was too worn out to care; to do anything but cry.

The rain poured down, mingling with the teardrops that silently fell onto the wood of Maria's guitar.

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><p><strong>The song she was singing was 'In My Own Little Corner' from Rogers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella' which Julie Andrews starred in. <strong>

**Hope you all liked it. Any comments (good or bad) are really appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I wrote this chapter ages ago (for the Feb, 2014 ProBoards prompt in fact), but I have been very hesitant to publish it, as I've resisted doing any AU stuff. However, this past little while I haven't been able to stop thinking about all these great AU possibilities, so I've caved and am going to write some more AU things. So this is just the beginning... **

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><p>Maria was still waiting for the bus, when she heard the sound of footsteps running along the road. A second later the Captain appeared in view. He had discarded his evening jacket as well as the medal that hung around his neck and was wearing a heavy overcoat to fight off the cold, but she could tell it was him. She would recognise him anywhere.<p>

"Maria," he shouted. "Fraulein Maria. Where are you?"

At hearing him say her name that way Maria gasped. Although the noise was quiet it caught the Captain's attention and he turned to face her, before ducking under the shelter of the bus stop himself.

"Ah, Fraulein Maria," he said. "There you are. I would like to know what all this is about?" he shoved the note she had written, now soaked through under her nose.

"I thought that I made the situation perfectly clear in my note," she said, surprising even herself by how even her voice sounded. "I am going back to the Abbey."

"Oh, no you're not," the Captain said, grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him. "Not if I can help it. I've seen the way you act around my children. You seem to be having a lovely time here with us and then you leave without any warning at all and no proper goodbye. No, you're not going anywhere until you explain to me why you changed your mind all of a sudden."

"There's nothing to explain," she said, exasperated. This night seemed to be getting worse and worse.

He looked her in the eye again, just like he had done earlier when they were dancing. Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper and full of nervousness.

"Maria," he said. "Don't tell me you didn't feel something during our dance tonight. I know you did."

Despite the fact that the Captain had just called her by her first name; something he had never done in the whole time she had been at the villa, Maria wasn't going to let that faze her.

"It's not important whether I did or not," Maria retorted stubbornly. "You know as well as I do that I've pledged my life to God. I don't belong in your world."

"And besides," she continued, before he could say another word. "You're going to marry the Baroness, aren't you? I may have been living in a convent for the past four years, but I'm not an idiot. I know that people get married because they love each other. Therefore, you clearly love the Baroness and so, I will disappear so you are not distracted by me."

"Is that what this is all about?" the Captain demanded. "Is this about Elsa?"

"No," said Maria, but her voice had faltered and she knew she hadn't convinced him this time. Although, she wasn't sure if she had convinced him at all.

"Maria..." he said, once again looking her straight in the eye with his dark blue eyes. Despite herself, Maria was mesmerised. And she cracked.

"Yes...," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "No. I don't know. All I know is she told me that I loved you and you thought you loved me."

"Well, she's wrong," the Captain said.

"I know. That's what I told her," Maria said. "That's why I must leave as quickly as possible; so you don't continue on this path and abandon your future with the Baroness."

"No," continued the Captain. "She's wrong because I know I love you, Maria. And given how much I love you, I know now I could never live with Elsa. I want you Maria." He paused. "I need you. We all do."

Maria's eyes widened and she looked up into his face, searching for the slightest trace of uncertainty, but all the emotions on the Captain's face were completely genuine.

"Really?" she asked, unable to manage anything more.

He nodded and walked even closer to her. Bringing his hand up, he cupped her chin and pressed his lips lightly against her own.

Though she was startled, her instincts soon took over and Maria dropped her bag and guitar case onto the muddy ground below. The kiss intensified and the Captain's hands travelled up and into Maria's hair, sending her hat off her head and into the mud as well.

"Do you love me, Maria?" he asked, ending the kiss and looking into her eyes; once again forcing her to lose herself in them. And at that moment her answer came to her.

"I think I do," she sighed, but upon seeing the Captain's expression, she knew without a doubt she loved him and there was nothing standing in her way now. "I know I do."

She sighed letting him wrap his arms around her and draw her even closer. And for one moment, Maria didn't care that it was raining and she was wet and freezing. She didn't care that her hat and bags were covered in mud. She was here with the man of her dreams, who had expressed his love for her and she couldn't remember ever being this happy before in her life.

"Maria," the Captain murmured, brushing another soft kiss against her lips. "I think it would be in our best interests to go back to the party. If we stay out here too much longer we'll both freeze to death. And I also have a very important announcement to make."

"I can't wait to hear it, Captain," she said playfully.

"Maria," he said kindly, lifting her chin so she was looking him directly in the eye. "I want you to call me Georg from now on. Alright?"

"Yes, sir," she said, mimicking the salute she'd given him on her arrival at the villa. "I mean, of course...Georg."

She smiled and together they collected her few belongings and, arm in arm, walked back to 53 Aigen.


	3. Epilogue

"So Captain," Maria teased. "What happened to that 'very important announcement' you had to make?" The couple were together in the warmth of Georg's study.

"Circumstances changed," Georg said, crossing the room and sitting beside Maria on the sofa.

It was true. By the time they had arrived back at the villa, both Georg and Maria were completely soaked and had to dry off and get warm as soon as possible for fear of illness. By the time they had both finished cleaning themselves up, dinner had finished and with the host unaccounted for, the party was winding down much quicker than it would've otherwise.

Georg didn't mind at all though. He had never enjoyed parties much at any point in his life, but this party held his interest the least by far. And after finding Maria's note, nothing else had mattered except finding and stopping her before he lost her forever.

In addition, the situation had also provided Georg with an opportunity to talk to Elsa. He knew that he couldn't officially begin a relationship with Maria until he had ended things with Elsa. It wouldn't have been fair to anybody involved.

Elsa had taken the news much better than Georg had expected. He knew that he had upset her a great deal, but she had made it quite clear that she understood the situation, wished him the best for his future and agreed to pack her little bags and return to Vienna first thing in the morning.

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><p>"Maybe you could make the announcement here," Maria suggested, bringing Georg out of his thoughts.<p>

"Mm-hmm". 'That might just work,' he thought.

"Maria," he began seriously, turning so he was looking directly at her. "You've changed me so much. You brought the one thing I thought I had lost forever back into my life. I meant what I said earlier tonight. I love you. I love you and I will always love you. I didn't think this would ever happen to me, but I can't imagine my life without you."

He paused, looking up to brave her glance. She was looking at him seriously, her eyes full of genuine love for the man in front of her.

"Maria, would you consider marrying me?"

Maria gasped, but she knew what her answer would be immediately.

"Yes," she cried, tears forming in her eyes. "Yes of course I will. I don't have to consider it, Georg. My answer is yes."

Georg smiled, before wrapping Maria in a tight embrace. He couldn't remember being this happy in a very long time.

"Maria," he asked softly. "Is there anyone I should go to to ask permission to marry you?"

"Well," Maria began, lifting her head from where it had been resting on Georg's chest. "Why don't we ask-"

"The children?" he cut her off, having known exactly what she was going to say before the words had left her mouth. Maria nodded as their faces drew closer and their lips met.

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><p>She knew the next teardrops to fall on her guitar would be for an entirely different reason than before.<p>

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><p><strong>Everybody wanted me to continue this one (and then continue it again) so I finally did. It took me a while to work out how I was going to do it and make it different enough, but I hope you're satisfied with the ending. Thank you for loving these stories so much, and pushing me to write more.<strong>


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